Drake is prepared for a weeks-long trial against Universal Music Group following the release of Kendrick Lamar’s Grammy-winning diss track.
In court documents obtained by PEOPLE on Wednesday, April 9, the 38-year-old Canadian rapper’s legal defense states that “settlement discussions have not taken place.”
According to the filing, the case is expected to be tried before a jury and is estimated to last for three weeks in New York.
The ongoing conflict began when Lamar, 37, released “Not Like Us” in May 2024, as the two artists were engaged in a public feud. Lamar’s single refers to Drake as a “certified pedophile” who should be “placed on neighborhood watch.”
The Compton rapper also performed the hit at the 2025 Super Bowl halftime show in February.
Although the word “pedophile” was omitted from his televised performance, Lamar smiled as he looked at the camera when he delivered the line, “Say, Drake, I hear you like ‘em young.”
This year’s big game was seen by an estimated 127.7 million people, making it the largest Super Bowl audience in TV history, according to research by Nielsen.
In a previous filing obtained by PEOPLE, Drake’s attorneys refuted UMG’s claims that Lamar’s lyrics were his opinion and alleged that “UMG completely ignores the Complaint’s allegations that millions of people, all over the world, did understand [the song] as a factual assertion that [Drake] is a pedophile.”
“UMG brazenly continued to publish and promote the [song] even after [Drake’s] home was attacked by a gunman, after his businesses were defaced, after [Drake] made UMG aware of the falsity of the allegations (and the harm they were causing), and after UMG knew that the public believed the allegations to be true statements of fact,” the filing claimed.
On March 31, Drake released a new music video for his single “Nokia,” and fans came up with theories on how the “Hotline Bling” rapper was seemingly hitting back at the California native.
One fan pointed out that Drake’s black-and-white music video for “Nokia,” was very similar to the filter used in Lamar’s “Not Like Us.”
“Drake gotta be trolling kendrick for sure. the handshake, the owls, the birdseye view, the dances, the choreo,” another fan wrote.
Never miss a story — sign up for PEOPLE’s free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.
Amid the ongoing feud, UMG previously said Drake “lost a rap battle that he provoked” and “sued his own record label in a misguided attempt to salve his wounds.”
Read the full article here
